#rachelcorrie | The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice

Rachel Corrie Memorial in Rafah, Gaza. Photo by Jeff Bright.

On Sunday 19th March, We travelled to Rafah area of Gaza to remember Rachel , whose 9th Anniversary fell on March 16th. Rachel was a 23-year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on 16 March 2003, while undertaking nonviolent direct action to protect the home of a Palestinian family from demolition. We first attended an olive planting ceremony attended by Palestinian schoolchildren and organised by the Ministry of Sport and Youth. A speech was read by Nathan, on behalf of the International Solidarity Movement which included excerpts from Rachel’s letters home in which she portrayed her admiration and love of the Palestinian people. The school children sang song’s and held up posters of Rachel and messages of solidarity.

» Click here to see photos by Jeff Bright from the event…

In the afternoon, we went to the Rachel Corrie Children’s Centre, also in Rafah.

After Rachel’s untimely death in March 2003, the Union of Health Work Committees named their clinic and children’s center after her. The Children’s Center is dedicated to building relationships between the isolated children and youth in Rafah and their peers in other countries.

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We are so honored and amazed at the numerous requests we receive from people throughout the world wanting to honor Rachel’s stand on March 16th and beyond. Here are a just a few ways her memory lives on:

Here in Olympia we are continuing our annual memorial tradition with a community gathering entitled “Gaza On My Mind” with a potluck, speakers who have recently traveled to Gaza, music and dancing.
In Washington D.C., Ray McGovern, retired CIA officer, will be holding a poster of Rachel Corrie and speaking at a before-the-White-House noon-time prayer and reflection on Friday the 16th.
In Iowa, the Des Moines Catholic Worker has dedicated one of their homes the ‘Rachel Corrie House’ and is now actively working to start up and maintain a year-round presence in occupied Palestine by sending one community member every three months to the Middle East to volunteer with the nonviolent protective accompaniment organization that Rachel worked for, the International Solidarity Movement.
In Wisconsin, the Madison Rafah Sister City Project is holding it’s annual Rachel Corrie Commemorative Benefit Dinner to fund a water filtration system for the Al-Shuka Girls Preparatory School in Rafah, Palestine.
In Tokat and Sakarya, Turkey they are continuing the ‘International Day of Conscience” that began in Rachel’s memory with events and a demonstration, carrying posters of Rachel, against all occupations.

Please send us an e-mail at [email protected] to let us know what you are doing in Rachel’s memory.

Memorial of Rachel Corrie in Rafah

Rachel’s Reach

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